Technical FIAT 500 burning rubber smell, and oil leak

[Rocco Reviews]

Hello, I'm new to this forum so i'm just learning it. My mom has a 2014 FIAT 500 Pop with the 1.4L 16v engine, and the AISIN 6AT. It has 45,275 miles on the clock. Whenever we go up a moderate grade hill with light acceleration with the A/C on (bringing fresh air in) the car starts to generate a light to medium burning rubber/plastic smell. We just got the oil changed at a Valvoline station 1 month ago but the car still hasn't changed much in performance or fuel economy. We think it's either the PCV Valve, PCV Valve O-Ring, Oil Filter housing, or the Vacuum Pump. The car also leaks oil. In December of 2019 the car shudder and threw itself into limp mode, after a restart it was fine but the check engine light was on, 3 days later the light went off never to be seen again. We never plugged in any scan tool as of yet.

It started leaking oil around the beginning of February this year. It started light and then a week before the oil change it got worse. 1 week after the oil change we found a BIG puddle on our cardboard catcher, and then it started to slow down, and now it only drips oil. In April the car had a burning smell on the outside of the car. My mom took of the FIAT OEM bra and the plastic engine cover. About two weeks later this burning smell started, and the leak is minimal. We bought the car in August of 2016 with no mechanical issues until now. Our local studio (Champion FIAT) is 30 minutes away from my house. Please help!

 

[jrkitching]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Please make your post in just one section. This is the correct one, given your location - european 500 owners will also see it, and be able to respond.

Are you checking the oil level regularly? Obviously, this is particularly important if you suspect you may have a leak.

Are you sure the leak isn't slowing due to lack of oil? Leaks which develop shortly after oil changes are often caused by either the oil filter or sump plug not being correctly tightened, but such faults do not resolve without intervention.

A common cause of a burning smell is leaking oil finding its way onto the hot parts of the powerplant, particularly the exhaust.

 

[jrkitching]

We just got the oil changed at a Valvoline station 1 month ago

Are these those aftermarket places that syphon out the old oil and replace with their own brand oil & filter while you wait?

Americans seem to be obsessed with oil changes every few thousand miles, using cheap low grade oil. This probably worked fine on a 1950 flathead Ford, but the oil on a modern European car is engineered to run for perhaps 18,000 miles. If properly serviced at the recommended interval using oil to the manufacturers specification, intermediate oil changes are neither required nor beneficial.

Modern cars need proper servicing, not cheap oil changes every few months. I doubt many independent autoshops in the USA have much experience of maintaining a small European car.

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Please make your post in just one section. This is the correct one, given your location - european 500 owners will also see it, and be able to respond.

Are you checking the oil level regularly? Obviously, this is particularly important if you suspect you may have a leak.

Are you sure the leak isn't slowing due to lack of oil? Leaks which develop shortly after oil changes are often caused by either the oil filter or sump plug not being correctly tightened, but such faults do not resolve without intervention.

A common cause of a burning smell is leaking oil finding its way onto the hot parts of the powerplant, particularly the exhaust.

We change the every 10,000 like the manual says. Even after the big leak, there was no loss of engine oil.

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Are these those aftermarket places that syphon out the old oil and replace with their own brand oil & filter while you wait?

Americans seem to be obsessed with oil changes every few thousand miles, using cheap low grade oil. This probably worked fine on a 1950 flathead Ford, but the oil on a modern European car is engineered to run for perhaps 18,000 miles. If properly serviced at the recommended interval using oil to the manufacturers specification, intermediate oil changes are neither required nor beneficial.

Modern cars need proper servicing, not cheap oil changes every few months. I doubt many independent autoshops in the USA have much experience of maintaining a small European car.

We change the oil every 10,000 miles like the manual says. We did take it to the 15 minute oil shops that drain tthe old oil-and put in their own oil. We don’t take the car to Fiat because we’re afraid they will charge a lot of money, and the first oil change we gave the car we gave to a local mechanic in our town which has a lot of experience with American cars.

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Please make your post in just one section. This is the correct one, given your location - european 500 owners will also see it, and be able to respond.

Are you checking the oil level regularly? Obviously, this is particularly important if you suspect you may have a leak.

Are you sure the leak isn't slowing due to lack of oil? Leaks which develop shortly after oil changes are often caused by either the oil filter or sump plug not being correctly tightened, but such faults do not resolve without intervention.

A common cause of a burning smell is leaking oil finding its way onto the hot parts of the powerplant, particularly the exhaust.

The car was leaking pretty bad before the change and then afterwords it got worse and now it’s only dripping. Should I check the transmission oil as well?

 

[jrkitching]

The car was leaking pretty bad before the change and then afterwords it got worse and now it’s only dripping. Should I check the transmission oil as well?

Yes, definitely.

From what you're posting, I'd say it's quite possible you've got a transmission leak.

Oil leakage which gets worse and then slows down is a sure sign that you've lost most of it.

We don’t take the car to Fiat because we’re afraid they will charge a lot of money

That's a reasonable fear. A lot of us here don't take our cars to Fiat because we know they'll charge us a lot of money.

The car still needs servicing, though - just changing the engine oil is not the same thing. Any competent garage should have identified and diagnosed this oil leak during a full service.

Continuing to drive with a known serious oil leak is wrong on many levels. Apart from the obvious risk of causing catastrophic damage to your own car by running with insufficient lubricant, oil deposited on the road is lethal to motorcyclists. The environmentalists may not like you very much, either.

 

[chris3234]

Is this a multiair engine?
If so I'd wanttomake sure only the exact spec of oil is used as the oil in these engines is used to control the inlet valve opening and timing and people have reported issues with the engine running correctly with Incorrect oil

 

[varesecrazy]

Is this a multiair engine?
If so I'd wanttomake sure only the exact spec of oil is used as the oil in these engines is used to control the inlet valve opening and timing and people have reported issues with the engine running correctly with Incorrect oil

A good point..

however Op. Says 1.4l
16 valve..

 

[chris3234]

A good point..

however Op. Says 1.4l
16 valve..

Multiair engine's are still 1.4,16vs
And he said he was in the usa as far as I was aware the USA cars were multiair engine's unless they fitted the standard 1.4 engine for a short time before the multiair unit's?

 

[varesecrazy]

Multiair engine's are still 1.4,16vs
And he said he was in the usa as far as I was aware the USA cars were multiair engine's unless they fitted the standard 1.4 engine for a short time before the multiair unit's?

TBH the US spec is a bit of a grey area to me..

So many changes.. 200kg heavier

Comparing 'apples to oranges' really

Fully agree about correct oil..and servicing in general

 

[chris3234]

TBH the US spec is a bit of a grey area to me..

So many changes.. 200kg heavier

Comparing 'apples to oranges' really

Fully agree about correct oil..and servicing in general

Never seen anyone mention have the regular 1.4 in the USA only the multiair
Then again there's could be the regular engine over there as well

 

[varesecrazy]

Never seen anyone mention have the regular 1.4 in the USA only the multiair
Then again there's could be the regular engine over there as well

Euro 500 was launched before multiair IIRC

2008 VS 2010

But not sure how much earlier the 500 was in the US : NA

Pretty sure the 500e was 2012

 

[chris3234]

Euro 500 was launched before multiair IIRC

2008 VS 2010

But not sure how much earlier the 500 was in the US : NA

Pretty sure the 500e was 2012

US moddel started production in 2010 according to Wikipedia anyway

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Is this a multiair engine?

If so I'd wanttomake sure only the exact spec of oil is used as the oil in these engines is used to control the inlet valve opening and timing and people have reported issues with the engine running correctly with Incorrect oil

Yes 1.4 16v multiair

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Multiair engine's are still 1.4,16vs

And he said he was in the usa as far as I was aware the USA cars were multiair engine's unless they fitted the standard 1.4 engine for a short time before the multiair unit's?

Yes multiair

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Yes, definitely.

From what you're posting, I'd say it's quite possible you've got a transmission leak.

Oil leakage which gets worse and then slows down is a sure sign that you've lost most of it.



That's a reasonable fear. A lot of us here don't take our cars to Fiat because we know they'll charge us a lot of money.

The car still needs servicing, though - just changing the engine oil is not the same thing. Any competent garage should have identified and diagnosed this oil leak during a full service.

Continuing to drive with a known serious oil leak is wrong on many levels. Apart from the obvious risk of causing catastrophic damage to your own car by running with insufficient lubricant, oil deposited on the road is lethal to motorcyclists. The environmentalists may not like you very much, either.

I just remembered the car was ONCE thrown into reverse on accident because the gear lever placement is so bad that you can throw the car into another gear.

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Never seen anyone mention have the regular 1.4 in the USA only the multiair

Then again there's could be the regular engine over there as well

It is a multiair N/A

 

[chris3234]

Looks like two things first you need to get a garage to stick it on a ramp and find where the leak is and fix that

Then it be looking at getting the correct oil in the car

SAE 5-40 ACEA C3 is the spec I needs ideally Selina k pure energy as it has guaranteed to work correctly
https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=..._(2012_to_)_1.4_MultiAir_Engine_Oils_(Selenia)

Other oils have been known to cause running issue's especially if totally the wrong spec
Perhaps you should ask what oil they filled with before?



Also it's probably worth getting the multiair filter changed also

https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=...8guY78hyGLMCRdUzK85bMrXiZ7NZHW7hoCEc0QAvD_BwE

 

[Rocco Reviews]

Looks like two things first you need to get a garage to stick it on a ramp and find where the leak is and fix that



Then it be looking at getting the correct oil in the car



SAE 5-40 ACEA C3 is the spec I needs ideally Selina k pure energy as it has guaranteed to work correctly

https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=..._(2012_to_)_1.4_MultiAir_Engine_Oils_(Selenia)



Other oils have been known to cause running issue's especially if totally the wrong spec

Perhaps you should ask what oil they filled with before?







Also it's probably worth getting the multiair filter changed also



https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=...8guY78hyGLMCRdUzK85bMrXiZ7NZHW7hoCEc0QAvD_BwE

The 6spd AISIN Automatic cars don’t have a transmission fluid filler or dipstick. How would we be able to fill the transmission with fluid?